Local News

Dewatering project draws complaints

McEndaffer Feedyard expansion gets nod

Despite some contention from the audience, the Logan County Planning Commission recommended approval Tuesday of a conditional use permit application submitted by the Pawnee Ridge Homeowners Association for a proposed dewatering project.

Rob Quint, of the Planning and Zoning Office, explained the HOA wants to install a six-inch PVC pipe for dewatering for the Dakota Road area of Pawnee Ridge. It will start in between Sandy St. John and Gene Thim's property, go under County Road 37, stay in the county right of way and go north toward the Cottonwood Subdivision. At the radius of the curb it will go under C.R. 37 and stay in the county right of way, before it crosses and takes the water to a pond on land owned by Alan Gentz, where it will be distributed.

They will be boring under the road.

St. John, who submitted the application on behalf of the HOA, explained they already have two dewatering wells installed, but they haven't been able to use them for several years because they didn't have pipe going anywhere to discharge the water. The HOA is in the process now of applying for grant money from the state to fund the project.

"Our goal is to get our dewatering wells hooked up again, so that we can start to dewater when the water table gets up as high as it has been. It's down a little bit now, but as soon as the augmentation starts going it will come back up and our sump pumps are going to be going off," he told the board.

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He notes this spring the homeowners' sump pumps were going off about every 30 seconds to two minutes.

Dave Whitney asked about previous pipes that were installed. St. John told him their wells were installed in 2011 and they put in a temporary pipeline, which did help some, but they're hoping this will help more homeowners who are affected.

Michael Bournia asked if the two wells cover everyone in the HOA or if they would need to drill more wells. St. John said they'll have to see, but they're hoping that takes care of it. Bournia also asked if the pipe they're putting in will handle both wells, St. John told him it will and he told the board Gentz's pond will be enough to handle the water coming through the pipe.

Bryan Ruf, who owns a farm directly north of the houses, voiced concern about whether the drainage would be able to handle all the water coming through. He believes the water will possibly spread to his property, as he's had issues on his farm ground before where it messed up his center pivot sprinkler.

"I talked with the water commissioner about it; he said this really isn't a true definition of a dewatering plan, that it should be piped to the culvert going underneath the Springdale Ditch," Ruf said.

Bournia asked the HOA who their water engineer is. They explained they don't have one; Thim developed the plans for this new pipe based off prior experience.

Gentz spoke out in favor of the project and told the board he doesn't believe the water will spread to Ruf's property. He also pointed out that this isn't going to be a 24/7 discharge, in fact there maybe some years it won't come on.

"I think this a great solution to the problem in Pawnee Ridge," he said. "I think overall it's a good plan, a doable plan."

Jake Meisner also expressed concerns that if the HOA is pumping "100 gallons a minute" the water will splash out and reach his home.

The board didn't feel the citizens' concerns were enough to reject the project.

"I see a good system; there might be problems at the discharge, but we don't know until it actually happens," Whitney said.

Bournia agreed, noting without an engineer's report they don't what will happen.

Brett Locke suggested the board okay the project for a shorter time frame, so there can be a trial period to see if there are issues. The board agreed to recommend approval of the project with a five-year limit.

In other business, they recommended approval of a request to amend and renew a special use permit for McEndaffer Feedyard, which is planning to expand from 22,000 head of cattle to 30,000 head. The feedyard is located at 13681 County Road 12, Merino.

Quint told the board the expansion will add approximately 32 acres of new pens. Initially 12 new pens will be added northwest of the existing feeding area and ultimately 25 pens will be added to the 38-acre site. The proposed expansion of the 38-acre site will generate 8.3 acre feet of additional storm runoff. A new 10 acre-foot pond will be installed in the southeast low point of the site and dewatering will be incorporated into the existing irrigation system.

McEndaffer went over the maps with the board and noted he will have sprinklers for dust control as he does for the rest of the feedyard.

There were no comments from the audience regarding this request.

Also recommended for approval by the board was a vacation of a subdivision exemption submitted by Jackie and Shirley Fiscus for 5 acres granted in 1996 for property located at 9284 C.R. 2.5, Merino. Along with that request, the board recommended approval of a subdivision exemption for the correct acreage, which is 11.33 acres.

Quint explained when the Fiscuses bought the property the deed contained 11.33 acres, but his office is unable to figure out how the deed went from 5 acres to 11.33 — there is no record of approving a change in acres.

Lastly, the board recommended approval of a special use permit application submitted by Richard E. Kloberdanz, dba as Quality Equipment Service Inc., for auto sales and service not including auto salvage or wreckage on property located at 20527 C.R. 36, Sterling.

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